The Giant Asteroid Flying Past Earth Today Has Its Own Moon

First radar images of asteroid 1998 QE2 were obtained when the asteroid was about 3.75 million miles (6 million kilometers) from Earth. NASA/JPL-Caltech/GSSR A huge asteroid is set to cruise by Earth Friday afternoon (May 31), making its closest approach to our planet for at least the next two centuries.

Asteroid 1998 QE2 will come within 3.6 million miles (5.8 million kilometers) of Earth at 4:59 p.m. EDT (2059 GMT) Friday — about 15 times the distance from our planet to the moon.

There's no chance the 1.7-mile-wide (2.7 km) 1998 QE2 will hit us, researchers say. That's a good thing, because a strike by such a big space rock would cause catastrophic damage, potentially wiping out our species. [Potentially Dangerous Asteroids (Images)]

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